Good morning!!!!

[RoyJackson]

2016-06-17, 0309

45 right now, heading to 79 today. Looks like a beautiful weekend ahead of us.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Good Morning All. 65 here this morning going to 72 with 100% chance of rain. Calling for between 1/2 and 3/4 inch. Had a big line of storms, One solid line of red on the radar, come through just before dark. Mom called and said that they were calling for 60 mi. wends. We just had a nice storm, a little hard rain and some wind but nothing bad. Hope to get some done but mostly I hope to get a call from a craigs list seller about a Little Machine shop mini mill. We will see, there is one person in front of me. I have told him if it is what he says I will buy it at his price. $850 for the mill with a tack, and digital readout on all three axis and power feed on the right to left axis.

Don are those honey bees? Maybe they are africainized, I hear they are pretty rough so be careful.

Roy How is the new pacemaker doing? You back to normal?

Ed

 

[Eric Salop]

Good morning. It's going to rain again, although today I think I will stay dry, plenty of inside jobs to do.

Dropped by the van mechanic's place yesterday where I picked up a pair of machining assignments. One involves trimming down the splined mounting flanges for the brake rotors, the other machining out some material on the cylinder head to drop the compression a little. Both are a result of combining parts that were never intended to meet, but that his experience has found to be quite compatible with just a little massaging. His last attempt at the head machining was done on a drill press with a router bit, so hopefully this time around the results will be a bit more satisfactory. :laughing: Just to make sure we're not cutting things too thin, though, he sent me home with a scrap head with instructions to section it several times through the area where the machining is to be done, so we'll know how much thickness remains above the water jacket. That also means I'll have a part to practice on before I have to do the real thing. That's a real comfort, since I haven't done anything like this before.

If you haven't machined anything like that before, I'm sure you will find it an interesting challenge. Something to look forward to after your ride out East.


Like RNG, yesterday I also had a bit of a new water jacket experience, although a slightly different kind...

I had decided that I must do something about the fence up the side of the drive, without delay. The enthusiasm of the big lambs to push against the wire to reach through to the lush grass on the drive side, coupled with 10 year old decaying wood, had taken out 7 posts, all set on a slight curve and the wire was about to buckle. Accuweather's radar map left me in no doubt that the rain would go from light to heavy, but no matter, I have some good waterproofs. It was very close to the house, so a couple of trips with a wheelbarrow were all it took to get tools and new posts into position. I cheated a little and dug half way down, leaving only the last foot of each post to be tapped home with my 2 handled post slammer. I was almost oblivious to the rain up to the point when I raised up my arms to get a good drop for the post slammer. At that point gravity found the weak point in my clothing, a little trickle of water ran down into the sleeves. By the time I had pounded on the post a couple of dozen times, I was becoming a little damp on the inside.

As I started on the second post, the heavens opened as predicted and the sloping driveway turned into a stream. Post pounding had water sloshing inside my jacket, around my arms. A sensible person would at this point gone inside and waited for the rain to ease. As usual, not being that sensible, I carried on and got them all done, intrigued by the way each lift and lowering of my arms squirted water inside. Instead of getting hot with lifting the weight of the post slammer, I was water cooled and it was really quite pleasant. Totally soaked by the time I was finished, my wife wouldn't let me sit down for a cup of tea without a full change of clothes.

 

[ronjhall]

Drinking first cup of coffee. 61° with clear skies this morning. Heading to 85° with mostly sunny skies. Got .31" of rain yesterday. Son and grandson came over and cut grass yesterday. Fun to watch GS run tractor for the first time. He did good. I am still not getting around much.
Good Morning All.

 

[daugen]

now the ads for the better quality water cooled electric powerwashers say the water keeps them cool and they last longer. You can prove it Eric!

rain stopping here until later today, then more due in, and then a nice weekend. Saturday is supposed to be just gorgeous and I have been roped into going to watch a kiddie soccer game. Will likely have a good time since i played soccer for many years.

Am pleased to report my first planting of sunflowers is coming up, nice little lines of plants in a big field.

 

[Buppies]

67 high of 78 big line of storms last night power just came back on after being off most of the night. Beautiful weekend in store for us.

Ron slow and easy healing takes time

TxDon bees can be nasty critters

Cannot believe Golden State got beat again

 

[wngsprd]

Good morning. It's going to rain again, although today I think I will stay dry, plenty of inside jobs to do.



If you haven't machined anything like that before, I'm sure you will find it an interesting challenge. Something to look forward to after your ride out East.


Like RNG, yesterday I also had a bit of a new water jacket experience, although a slightly different kind...

I had decided that I must do something about the fence up the side of the drive, without delay. The enthusiasm of the big lambs to push against the wire to reach through to the lush grass on the drive side, coupled with 10 year old decaying wood, had taken out 7 posts, all set on a slight curve and the wire was about to buckle. Accuweather's radar map left me in no doubt that the rain would go from light to heavy, but no matter, I have some good waterproofs. It was very close to the house, so a couple of trips with a wheelbarrow were all it took to get tools and new posts into position. I cheated a little and dug half way down, leaving only the last foot of each post to be tapped home with my 2 handled post slammer. I was almost oblivious to the rain up to the point when I raised up my arms to get a good drop for the post slammer. At that point gravity found the weak point in my clothing, a little trickle of water ran down into the sleeves. By the time I had pounded on the post a couple of dozen times, I was becoming a little damp on the inside.

As I started on the second post, the heavens opened as predicted and the sloping driveway turned into a stream. Post pounding had water sloshing inside my jacket, around my arms. A sensible person would at this point gone inside and waited for the rain to ease. As usual, not being that sensible, I carried on and got them all done, intrigued by the way each lift and lowering of my arms squirted water inside. Instead of getting hot with lifting the weight of the post slammer, I was water cooled and it was really quite pleasant. Totally soaked by the time I was finished, my wife wouldn't let me sit down for a cup of tea without a full change of clothes.

Smart wife.

 

[wngsprd]

67 going to only 70. Light shower now, but got 1.56 inches last night, most in less than an hour. Hundreds of thousands lost power in the Richmond area.

I've been out picking up limbs, dead and live, that blew down last night. Winds also took the temporary roof off of my firewood pallet row.

Since this is the first rain since I planted sunflowers and buckwheat, I'll bet I had some seed wash away and erosion...will go check after this shower ends.

Don, glad you got some screen to protect you. Several years ago bees built a nest in a hollow oak a few feet across my property line...likely had a thousand...they came back each year until a storm blew the top off of it. I didn't need to get close to it with my tractor, but did enjoy watching them.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Well Ed, I was thinking of you sitting by the pool sipping tea as I was running from my abandoned tractor swatting killer bees. They were staying with me, bombarding me, while I was backing out of the blocked road as quickly as I could. I finally shut the tractor down and started running. I did manage not to get stung (had on long clothes and a hat) but they sure follow a long ways. I'm trying to locate a bee hat or netting somewhere in the county but so far no one has any. I might have to go to hobby lobby (30 miles away) and get some netting material and make one. There is a tree down blocking access to the back 40 that will stay there till I get some protection.
( . .and the bees were not even in the tree I was trying to move . .)

You are a very, very, fortunate person. They say don't dive into water, but I don't know what else to do if I get attacked.

I would attempt to eradicate them, knowing that they are rare would be overrode by knowing that they are deadly. They are now agitated by your tractor. From what my friend tells me, things will only get worse dealing with them.

 

[rswyan]

66.4F and partly cloudy ... today should be mostly sunny with a high of 85F.

Spent a good part of the day yesterday doing house cleaning, then went up to shop for a while. Did a little clean up and got the two side panels welded onto the soil screen frame. Getting low on shielding gas and out of zip discs so I'll probably venture out to handle that. Also need some bird seed.

Had a storm come through yesterday afternoon that dumped around 1 1/2 inches of rain in less than an hour. Definitely needed the rain, just didn't need it quite so fast. Will need to run over the driveway with the box blade to fill the wash outs back in ... but otherwise no complaints.

There was a pileated woodpecker on the suet feeder when I walked into the living room last night with my dinner plate. Good to see they are still around.

Next five days are supposed to be sunny, reaching a high of 89F by Monday, then falling to a high of only 78F on Tuesday.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 75˚ clear skies heading to the high 90s. We have had africanize honey bees in Texas ever since 1990 when they crossed at the Mexican boarder. Each year there are reports (usually from someone on a tractor) of deaths. Ronnie who used to grade our road, was removing a hive, the bees became aggressive and he was stung multiple multiple times and died. He was a beekeeper. June is the worst month for attacks.
As soon as I realized what was going on yesterday I took the situation very seriously. Soapy water will take them out. When they first came to Houston 20 years ago the Fire Department issued the brush trucks Dawn detergent to put in their tanks if they had to do a bee rescue. That reminds me I need a bottle of Dawn in each of our brush trucks.

Kyle check out #5

1. Run. Seriously, run away from the nest or bees as quickly as you can. Bees use an alarm pheromone to alert other hive members of a threat, so the longer you hang around, the more bees will arrive, ready to sting you.
2. If you have a jacket or anything else with you, use it to cover your head. Protect your eyes and face if at all possible. Of course, don’t obstruct your vision if you are running.
1. Get indoors as quickly as possible. If you aren’t near a building, get inside the nearest car or shed. Close the doors and windows to keep the bees from following you.
2. If no shelter is available, keep running. African honey bees can follow you for as far as a quarter of a mile. If you run far enough, you should be able to lose them.
3. Whatever you do, don’t stay still if the bees are stinging you. These aren’t grizzly bears; they will not stop if you “play dead.”
4. Don’t swat at the bees or wave your arms to fend them off. That will only confirm that you are indeed a threat. You’re likely to be stung even more.
5. Don’t jump into a pool or other body of water to avoid the bees. They can and will wait for you to surface, and will sting you as soon as you do. You can’t hold your breath long enough to wait them out, trust me.
6. Don’t swat at the bees or wave your arms to fend them off. That will only confirm that you are indeed a threat. You’re likely to be stung even more.
If someone else is being stung by killer bees and cannot run away, cover them with anything you can find. Do what you can to quickly cover any exposed skin or susceptible areas of their body, and then run for help as fast as you can.
‘Bee’ alert, Avoid the swarm this season - Brownsville Herald: Premium

Africanized bees kill two dogs in West Texas, injure owner with more than 5 stings - Houston Chronicle
4, 'Killer Bees' Sting Texas Man to Death | Newsgram | US News
http://lubbock.tamu.edu/files/2011/11/HadenFireFighter.pdf

Eric, you give new meaning to the term "Water Hammer".

 

[farmer2009]

73 this morning and headed to 88 today. Had a little rain yesterday afternoon but didn't look at gauge before it cleared.

Helper took the day off. So I'm on my own today. Ok. Well I still have stuff to do. The Ranger needs a service. The carpet in the master bath needs to come out and I need to investigate the source of the water. Which means walls could go missing. Wife wants that shower torn out and turned into a closet anyways. Then back to building or whatever else I find.

Don. The Storm and WeatherUnderground app are my favorites. The storm app can be set to notify you when there is rain or lightning strikes within a certain distance. Mine is set at 10 miles.
The TBN app of course. There are two screens I use on it. Subscribed and participated. If you want to follow a thread but not reply to it. Click on the star when in the threat list. It'll turn yellow and stay in your subscribed tab. I don't even use a computer anymore to read TBN just my phone. And of course everyone needs a solitaire to help pass the time.
My wife says I have too many apps.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good morning! 48° in Ely Nevada.

400 on eventful miles yesterday on Americas loneliest highway US 50. 300 more today and I'll be in Panguitch Utah. Excellent steak dinner last night marred by horrible service but what do you expect in the middle of nowhere.

TGIF!

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Don, my favorite iPhone apps include a carpenters level, my banking apps, Google maps not Apple Maps, and of course a good game of solitaire. But most of all don't forget the tractor by net app.

 

[toppop52]

Rained all night, mostly light, stopped about half an hour ago. Pretty weekend upcoming. Got my limbs pushed into the woods late yesterday, Think I'm going to build a rake to clamp onto my bucket for these jobs, the York rake is great but it's behind me, when I get to the woods I still have to turn around and push. Tested my winch yesterday, pulled me and the tractor onto the trailer without a hiccup. I can't run fast enough or far enough, so I just try to avoid bees. We have hornets of all sorts and ground bees that cause problems here. I've heard rumors of Africanized honey bees, but no real evidence here.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Don, Be careful, to much at stake to risk it. Let,s see, You have flooding, spiders and bees. What else do you have there? Must be good cause I think I would have run away by now. Ed

 

[sodamo]

69°F and .57 inches rain last 24 hours. Looking like another rainy day.

Be safe
Have a great day

 

[txdon]

Don, Be careful, to much at stake to risk it. Let,s see, You have flooding, spiders and bees. What else do you have there? Must be good cause I think I would have run away by now. Ed

Droughts and

snakes, don't forget snakes, lots and lots of snakes, specifically, Copperheads, Coral and Timber rattlers.

also Coming soon is killer heat - up to 112˚ for weeks and weeks . . . . .:melodramatic:

. . .and to top it off not a hospital or urgent care in the whole county.

Must think positive: :snowman:

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Don, Be careful, to much at stake to risk it. Let,s see, You have flooding, spiders and bees. What else do you have there? Must be good cause I think I would have run away by now. Ed

Droughts and

snakes, don't forget snakes, lots and lots of snakes, specifically, Copperheads, Coral and Timber rattlers.

also Coming soon is killer heat - up to 112˚ for weeks and weeks . . . . .:melodramatic:

Must think positive: :snowman:

Lesser men would have thrown in the towel on "Green Acres" and moved back to a high rise apartment.

Don, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo last week and overall it was great. But their collection of rattlesnakes pales in comparison to the Houston zoo. Wimpy measly girly sized rattlers while Houston has some of the world's largest specimens.

Not sure how many snakes I've accidentally killed with the Bush Hog. Part of the secret to snake safety is to keep the fields mowed.

 

[txdon]

When I was at Academy yesterday there was a group of men by the rifle counter. When I went up to the counter one said if you are looking for a AR15 I just bought the last one. I said I was looking for some real defense - Anyone know where the bee hats are at?:laughing: